ARTICLES ABOUT SIR CREEK BY DATE - PAGE 3

AHMEDABAD: Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley today claimed that BJP will come back to power in Gujarat with a thumping majority. He further said Congress conducted its campaign in Gujarat elections merely as a formality and the high percentage of voting in the first phase suggested that BJP would return to power with thumping majority. "They first campaigned through brand ambassador and in the last few days some of their leaders came to campaign. The Congress has no direction, leadership or agenda.

NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has alleged that the Centre was planning to handover Sir Creek to Pakistan during interior secretary Rehman Malik's visit to New Delhi. The Prime Minister's Office rubbished the charges, and accused him of indulging in mischief. On the eve of the first phase of polling in Gujarat, Modi shot off a letter to the prime minister, warning against a 'deal' with Pakistan on Sir Creek, during negotiations with Malik on December 15. "Any attempt to hand over Sir Creek to Pakistan would be a strategic blunder considering the history and sensitivity of the region," Modi said.

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday questioned the timing of Narendra Modi's letter on Sir Creek issue saying the Gujarat Chief Minister has raised the matter at the time of elections, and indicated the government could take it up with the Election Commission. "When we take some good decisions (increasing cap on LPG cylinder from six to nine) we are told you can't take these decisions. But someone writes a letter that is related to international relations during the elections, it's really for us to consider through appropriate organisation including Election Commission as what are the permissible limit of the issue that can be raised," he told reporters on the sidelines of CII-MEA energy seminar here.

AHMEDABAD: Despite the Prime Minister's Office terming allegations on Sir Creek as "baseless" and "mischievous", Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi sharpened his attack on the Centre today alleging Prime Minister had agreed to resolve the issue soon during discussions with Pakistan's president . "Is it not true that when Asif Ali Zardari was on a visit to Ajmer (in April 2012) you had lunch with him in Delhi? That time he raised the issue of Sir Creek," Modi said, posing a query to the PM, while addressing rallies in Kutch and North Gujarat.

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today asked the Prime Minister to stop dialogue with Pakistan at once on the Sir Creek issue and demanded that it should not be handed over to the neighbouring nation. "I am writing on a serious issue of talks being held on Sir Creek being handed over to Pakistan. Any attempt to hand over Sir Creek to Pakistan would be a strategic blunder considering the history and sensitivity of the region," Modi has written in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister's Office today rejected a claim by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi that Sir Creek was being "handed over" to Pakistan, terming it as "mischievous" and questioned its timing. Responding to a letter written by Modi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh , PMO said, "Allegation in the letter that Sir Creek is about to be given to Pakistan is untrue... The other conclusions drawn by Shri Modi on this alleged fact are also not real. " Raising question over timing of the letter, PMO said, "The contents of the letter and the timing of its release to the public raise questions about the motives behind its issue...

AHMEDABAD: Finance Minister P Chidambaram today termed as "ridiculous" the suggestion that India was handing over Sir Creek to Pakistan and asserted that nobody was going to give it to the neighbouring country. "Nobody is giving away Sir Creek to Pakistan. But I don't know anything about the letter," Chidambaram said on a question regarding a letter written by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sir Creek. "If anybody is suggesting that India is handing over Sir Creek to Pakistan, then it is a ridiculous suggestion," Chidambaram said.

NEW DELHI: India will soon erect a 'floating fence', anchored by submerged metallic meshes, along the disputed Sir Creek border area with Pakistan. The 96-km strip in the Rann of Kutch marshes is notorious for illegal crossings and smuggling of narcotics and arms and is patrolled round-the-clock by BSF marine commandos. Top sources involved in the project said after mulling over various options, the Union Home Ministry entrusted the CPWD and NBCC to install an all-weather 'gabion box' fence along the stretch.

WASHINGTON: Building trust and reversing the the "negative narrative" of six decades is key to resolving core issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, with India, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said today, pointing out that efforts to normalise trade was a step in that direction. In her address to a prominent American think than here, Khar said this is what Pakistan's civilian government has been trying to do single-mindedly for the last four years. "One thing is clear that we would not be able to achieve peace within if we are not able to find peace on our borders with our neighbours.

PORBANDAR: Defence Minister A K Antony today said that efforts were on to resolve the disputed Sir Creek issue with Pakistan. "The dialogue process is on to resolve the issue with the neighbouring country, but can't tell any time limits," Antony told media-persons after inaugurating Remote Operating Station (ROS) of the Coastal Radar Network at Porbandar today. Sir Creek is a 98-km disputed territory between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands, which opens up into the Arabian Sea. The Sir Creek divides the Kutch region of Gujarat and the Sindh province of Pakistan.